Sheet attaching mechanism



Aug 6, 1946. w. w. GUYON SHEET ATTACHING MECHANISM Filed May 25, 1944 I N VEN TOR. Wet/Z26? Wagon Patented Aug. 6, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHEET ATTACHING MECHANISM Walter W. Guyon, Rochester, N. Y.

Application May 25, 1944, Serial No. 537,246

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a sheet attaching mechanism, applicable more particularly to stapling machines of conventional form embodying a relatively movable anvil and head for securing a staple through a plurality of sheets, and it has for its purpose to provide a construction that will enable attaching two or more sheets together by fastening a staple around one corner of the sheets and extending from around one edge across the corner of the outer sheet, around the adjacent edge, and back on the opposite outer surface, thus holding the sheets together by frictional engagement between the sheets and the staple, which occupiesonly the extreme corner portion of the sheets.

The usual practice in stapling a multiplicity of paper or other sheets together is to attach the staple parallel to and spaced from one edge, and where the staple is attached at one corner, it penetrates the sheets and is frequently located a substantial distance from the edges so that if it later becomes necessary to separate the sheets, the staple must first be removed by bending back its ends with a suitable instrument, or else the sheets must be defaced by tearing them apart, and one object of the invention is to afford a structure that enables fastening together a multiplicity of sheets by means of a staple located at the extreme corner of the sheets so that the staple can be easily and quickly removed with the fingers by exerting the tension required to overcome the frictional engagement between the staple and the adjacent surfaces of the sheets, a sheet can be torn off along the line of the staple by destroying only a small corner portion of the sheet, or a sheet can be pulled out from the rest without destroying or seriously defacing it.

The invention makes it possible to use staples as temporary or frictional retaining devices for holding together a multiplicity of sheets and thus to take the place of the conventional paper clips or other similar fastening elements and effect a considerable saving in cost, while affording in strumentalities which hold a multiplicity of sheets together with sufficient tightness to function satisfactorily as a permanent fastener, but permitting easy removal of the fastener or separation of one or more sheets when desirable.

Another purpose of the invention is to afford a structure that can readily be applied to a con- 0 invention to a stapling machine of known form;

in the construction and arrangement of parts Fig. 2 is a plan view of the base of the machine, partially broken away;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the stapling machine head with the plunger in section, showing a modified form of the invention;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the construction illustrated in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a stapling machine base, showing a further modification;

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing the application of a staple to a series of sheets;

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the staple applied in a somewhat different manner, penetrating slightly the edges of the sheets, and

Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the application of the invention in fastening a sheet to the surface of a larger sheet.

The invention is useful and of particular advantage wherever it is desirable to attach together two or more sheets of paper or other material and hold them in any attached relation as long as desired, while permitting quick'removal of the fastening means if necessary or the removal of a sheet by tearing it at the corner along the staple where attached, or by removing it against the frictional resistance of the staple. and instances of such uses are found in attaching a check, price list, folder, return card, or other sheet to a remittance blank, statement, letter, or advertising broadside respectively, also the fas tening of a smaller sheet on to a larger sheet in spaced relation to its edges as in affixing merchandise on display boards, and while the invention is susceptible of use with conventional staples of standard size, it is preferable to employ a somewhat longer staple, for instance about three-quarters of an inch or more in length, so'

that when the staple is fastened across the corner portions of a plurality of sheets and extends around the adjacent edges in frictional engagement with the exposed surfaces of the outer sheets, the fastener is of suflicient length to engage a considerable portion of the surfaces of the sheets and thus hold the sheets together frictionally with such pressure as to prevent their accidental separation or displacement and to afford a practically permanent attachment.

The invention in one preferred embodiment, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, is shown as applied to a conventional type of stapling machine including a base I, anvil 2 having the usual staple recess 3, while 4 designates the pivotally mounted head provided with a plunger 5 that is operable to force a staple through the staple channel 6 into the staplerecess 3 of the anvil.

In order to position the sheets on the anvil in the required relationship to the staple recess and staple, so that the latter will extend across the corner portions of the sheets and around the adjacent edges, there is provided positioning means which may be in the form of lines, pins, or other indicating devices or abutments, and here shown as straight flanges or guides 1 formed integrally with or otherwise attached to the .base I and preferably located symmetrically on opposite sides of the longitudinal center .of the staple ecess 3.

The guides l ,are located along lines at right angles toeach other and inclined to the staple recess in such relation to the staple recess 3 that when a sheet is inserted cornerwise over .the staple recess and its adjacent edges are in contact with the guides J, said edges will coincide approximately with the ends of .the staple recess 3 or be located slightly beyond the ends of the recess. Thus when the stapleis fastened, it will extend entirely around theledges of the sheets, asin Fig. v6,01 it may penetrate the edges slightly and extend through pockets .or :notches thus formed in the edges by the staple, as in Fig.7, to give a slightly tighter attachment between the staple fastener and the sheets if preferred, this result depending upon the relative positioning of the guides l and the staple recess.

The guides 1 are illustrated in Figs. land 2 .as located in front of the staplerecess and movable head, and if desirable, additional guides 8 may be provided behind the staple recess to engage the corner portions of thesheets and the edges immediately adjacent-to the corner portions, the

are inserted cornerwise over the staple reces with their adjacent edges inclined to the recess.

While the sheets are held in position with adjacent edges contacting the guides I and 8, and the plunger 5 is depressed, the staple is secured across the corner portions of the sheets and around adjacent edges, as illustrated in Fig. 6, or as in Fig. 7 where the edges are penetrated slightly by the staple. When thus secured, the

sheets are securely heldagainst accidental displacement and if it is desired to remove the staple, this can readily be accomplished by holding the sheets with one handhengaging the staple between the thumb and forefinger, and pulling it away from engagement with the sheets.

If it is desirable to remove a single sheet, this can easily be done by tearing the sheet along the line of the staple. This results-in removing only a small corner portion of the sheet and does not interfere with any of the usual reading matter, and does not materially deface the sheet. In some cases, if preferred, a single sheet can be removed by holding the sheets and staple in one hand while pulling the sheet to be removed away from the remaining sheets, which are still held by the frictional engagement of the staple.

In case it is desirable to provide for fastening sheets either in the manner described, or in the conventional way by penetrating the sheets, the positioning means can be arranged to be retractable out of operative position, if desired to fasten a staple in the conventional way. This is accomplished by providing guides 9 as part of a slidable plate I0 mounted on the base and movable thereover into operative position against suitable stops [I carried by the base I and lo- .cated so as to position the guides 9 in the predetermined relation to the staple recess. The plate It! may be formed with a slot [2 guided on pins 1,3 carried by the base, and can be held against the "base by spring followers 15, while 15 designates a lug or projection formed on the plate and engageable frictionally with recesses suitably arranged in the base, to hold the plate in either its pperative or inoperative position.

In some instances, it is desirable to secure a sheet to the surface of a "larger sheet ,and in spaced relation to the edges of the latter, but in such a way as to permit quick removal of the smallersheet by arranging the staple across a corner portion thereof, and to: accomplish this result, the positioning meansfor the sheet may be provided on the movable head instead of on the base as already described.

The head 16 may ,be' provided with guides ll projecting somewhat below the bottom of the movable head so as to enable positioning a sheet under the movable head and incontact with the guides l]. Each guide 11 is preferably movable vertically with relation to the head IS in order to permit the latter to be brought down into engagement with the anvil, and this is accomplished by mouning each guide I! on an arm 18 that is ,slidable vertically in a guiding chamber 19 carried by the side wall of the head, while '29 is a spring that normally holds the guide ,l'l down in its lowermost position for controlling DOsitioningof the sheet. 1

In. ol l ration, the larger sheet is arranged in any desired position over the anvil on the base while the smaller sheet is held by the operator against the guides VI! of the movable head as the plunger is forced downwardly. This will cause the sheet immediately under the movable head to assume the proper relation to the staple and staple recess so that when fastened to the larger .sheet, the stapleextends around the edges of the smaller sheet and across the corner ,portion thereof, permitting the latter to be removed readily from the larger sheet if desired. This result ,can also be accomplished by fastening he guides l'l fixedly to the movable head in such position that they do not interfere with the downward movement of the head on to .the anvil.

The invention is also applicable to tacking or stitching machines in which there i no anvil and the fastening element is driven into and held by a wooden or .other body to which a card .or sheet is .to be ,temporarilyfastened.

While theinvention hasbeen described with relation to the specific embodiment shown, it is notconfined to the details herein describedahd illustrated, and application is intendedto cover such modifications, changes or other adaptation as may come within the purposes of the invention and the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a stapling machine for attaching superposed sheets and including a base,'an anvil having a staple recess and a horizontal sheet-supporting surface acting to support a plurality of superposed sheets in horizontal position, a movable head having a stapleejecting channel, and a plunger movable in the head to force a staple through said channel into the staple recess, of sheet-positioning means comprising guides located in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement of the plunger and along lines at right angles to each other and inclined to said staple recess and channel, said lines being adjacent to the ends of the staple recess and channel, and said guides having engagement with adjacent edges of a sheet inserted cornerwise and edgewise into the machine in a plane generally parallel to said horizontal sheetsupporting surface with said edges inclined to the staple recess.

2. The combination with a stapling machine including a base, an anvil having a staple recess, a movable head having a staple-ejecting channel, and a plunger movable in the head to force a staple through said channel into the staple recess, of sheet-positioning means comprising guides carried by said movable head and located along lines at right angles to each other and inclined to said staple channel and recess, said lines being adjacent to the ends of said staple channel and recess when the head is in lowered position and said guides having engagement with adjacent edges of a sheet inserted cornerwise into the machine with said edges inclined to the staple channel.

3. The combination with a stapling machine including a base, an anvil having a staple recess, a movable head having a staple-ejecting channel, and a plunger movable in the head to force a staple through said channel into the staple recess, of sheet-positioning means comprising guides carried by said movable head and located symmetrically on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the staple channel along lines at right angles to each other and inclined to the ends of said staple channel and recess 5 when the head is in lowered position, said guides having engagement with adjacent edges of a sheet inserted cornerwise into the machine with said edges inclined to the staple channel.

4. The combination with a staple affixing head having a staple-ejecting channel and plunger, of sheet-positioning means carried by said movable head and located along lines at right angles to each other and inclined to said staple channel, said lines being adjacent to the ends of the staple channel for locating a sheet inserted cornerwise under the head.

5. The combination with a stapling machine for attaching superposed sheets and including a base, an anvil having a staple recess and a horizontal sheet-supporting surface acting to support a plurality of superposed sheets in horizontal position, a movable head having a staple-ejecting channel, and a plunger movable in the head to force a staple through said channel into the staple recess, of sheet-positioning means comprising sheet-engaging devices located in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement of the plunger on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the staple recess, said sheet-engaging devices being arranged for engagement with adjacent edges of a sheet inserted cornerwise and edgewise into the machine in aplane generally parallel to said horizontal sheet-supporting surface and acting to locate the sheet in proper position in relation to the staple recess.

6. The combination with a stapling machine for attaching superposed sheets and including a base, an anvil having a staple recess and a hori zontal sheet-supporting surface acting to support a plurality of superposed sheets in horizontal position, a movable head having a staple-ejecting channel, and a plunger movable in the head to force a staple through said channel into the staple recess, of sheet-positioning means located in a plane perpendicular to the direction of movement of the plunger on opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the staple recess, said sheet-positioning mean acting in relation to adjacent edges of a sheet inserted cornerwise and edgewise into the machine in a plane generally parallel to said horizontal sheet-supporting surface to indicate the proper position of the sheet 0 in relation to the staple recess.

WALTER W. GUYON. 

